| Home > Resources > Leadership > Professional Biographies Bios Veteran Political and Public Health Leaders
Medical, Public Health, and Disaster Experts
Community Leaders and Special Population Advocates
News Media, Public Affairs, and Risk Communications Experts News Media, Public Affairs, and Risk Communications Experts Thom Berry, Director of Media Relations, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; Former President, National Public Health Information Coalition John Burke, MA, JD, President, Strategic Communications Inc.; Crisis Communications Advisor to clients including Union Carbide, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck Joan Deppa, PhD, Associate Professor, S.I. Newhouse School of Communications, Syracuse University; former UPI editor & reporter Darren Irby, Vice President of External Affairs, American Red Cross Headquarters Richard Knox, Health & Science Correspondent, National Public Radio; former medicine & health reporter for Boston Globe Sandra Mullin, MSW, Director of Communications & Associate Commissioner for New York City Department of Health during '99 West Nile Virus outbreak, '01 World Trade Center attacks, '01 anthrax attacks, and '03 SARS outbreak Barbara Reynolds, MA, Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication Specialist, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; managed public communications during '01 anthrax attacks Peter Sandman, PhD, Risk Communications Specialist; advisor to the New York City Department of Health and the CDC on bioterrorism, preparedness, and communication; creator of the Hazard+Outrage formula for risk communication Mary E. Walsh, National Security Producer for CBS News assigned to the Pentagon
Thom W. Berry
Mr. Berry is Director of the Division of Media Relations for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, where he is charged with coordinating all contacts with the news media. He also serves on the agency's bioterrorism committee. Mr. Berry conducts in-service training in public speaking, news media relations, interviewing techniques, and coalition building for his agency as well as for other local, state, and national organizations. He is President of the National Public Health Information Coalition, an organization of senior-level communications staff who serve in state, local, and territorial public health agencies. Mr. Berry is also a member of the National Association of Government Communicators and the National Information Officers Association. Prior to joining the Department of Health, he worked for more than 17 years as a reporter, anchor, and news director. John Burke, MA, JD
Mr. Burke is the President of Strategic Communications, Inc., a public relations firm that specializes in helping executives deal with difficult media communications. Prior to founding his firm in 1987, Mr. Burke headed the corporate communications and crisis management group of what was then the world's largest international public relations firm. His clients included Union Carbide, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Morgan Stanley, and scores of other Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit groups, trade associations, law firms, and individuals. He has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health since 1993, lecturing on mass media and public health promotion. Joan Deppa, PhD
Dr. Deppa, a former United Press International editor and reporter, is Associate Professor at the Newhouse School of Communications, Syracuse University. She teaches courses in news writing, reporting, critical perspectives on news, communicating with computers (interactive multimedia), and Internet reporting and writing. She is the principal author of The Media and Disasters: Pan Am 103 and has a strong interest in ethical issues relating to journalism, including international media ethics. Darren Irby
Mr. Irby is Vice President of External Affairs for the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington, DC. Richard Knox
Mr. Knox is a Health and Science Correspondent with National Public Radio. Since he joined NPR in 2000, he has covered a broad range of issues and events in public health, medicine, and science. His reports can be heard on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and newscasts. Among other things, Mr. Knox's NPR reports have examined the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean; anthrax terrorism; smallpox and other bioterrorism preparedness issues; the rising cost of medical care; community caregiving; and the SARS epidemic. Before joining NPR, Mr. Knox covered medicine and health for The Boston Globe. His award-winning 1995 articles on medical errors are considered a landmark in the national movement to prevent medical mistakes. Sandra Mullin, MSW
Ms. Mullin is Director of Communications and Associate Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is charged with overseeing media relations, health media and marketing, cross cultural communications, mental hygiene public education, and community relations. Ms. Mullin has been directly involved in managing public health communications during several notable incidents, including the SARS epidemic, the West Nile Virus outbreak of 1999, the World Trade Center attacks, and the anthrax attacks of 2001. She has also overseen the development of numerous multimedia campaigns on issues such as infectious and chronic disease control and prevention, environmental health promotion, and mental health concerns. Prior to her tenure with the Department of Health, Ms. Mullin worked as an educator and community organizer. Barbara J. Reynolds, MA
Ms. Reynolds currently serves as Crisis Communication and Emergency Risk Communication Specialist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her expertise has been called on in the planning and response for pandemic influenza, vaccine safety, emerging disease outbreaks, and bioterrorism. Internationally, she has served as a crisis communication consultant on health issues for France, Hong Kong, Australia, and the World Health Organization. Ms. Reynolds has been directly involved in managing CDC's public communications and crisis management for a number of notable events, including the anthrax attacks of 2001, the TOPOFF biological and chemical terrorism training exercise, the avian flu outbreak in Hong Kong, the West Nile Virus outbreak, and the recall of Thimerosal use in children's vaccines, among others. Peter Sandman, PhD
Dr. Sandman is a risk communication specialist and the creator of the Hazard+Outrage formula for risk communication. Dr. Sandman serves as Advisor to the New York City Department of Health on bioterrorism preparedness and communication and has been a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for communication strategy related to anthrax, smallpox, and other bioterrorism issues. Dr. Sandman has guided clients through a wide range of public controversies that threatened corporate or government reputation, from oil spills to labor-management issues, and from E. coli contamination to the location of hazardous waste facilities. He also has helped activists arouse concern about serious hazards and has helped companies persuade employees to take safety protocols seriously. Dr. Sandman has been a Professor at Rutgers University since 1977; he founded the Environmental Communication Research Program in 1986 and served as its director until 1992. Now a full-time consultant, Dr. Sandman retains his academic affiliations at Rutgers. Mary E. Walsh
As the national security producer for CBS News, Ms. Walsh generates stories for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and 60 Minutes II. She has won two Emmy awards and a Dupont award from Columbia University. Ms. Walsh has been assigned to the Pentagon since 1993. Prior to that, she served as the CBS news producer in Tokyo, reporting from locations throughout Asia. Ms. Walsh has worked at CBS News headquarters in New York and was based in Atlanta from 1985 to 1987, during which time she covered the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle. She began her career at CBS News as assistant to the political director, served as producer for the CBS Morning News, and covered the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale and George H.W. Bush. [return to top] |
